Tarissa
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "bringer of light".
Name Census estimates that about 237 living Americans carry the first name Tarissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tarissa today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tarissa births was 1992 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tarissa. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
237
~ 1 in 1,446,221 Americans
Peak year
1992
15 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2007 SSA rank
#20,268
Tracked since 1974
Census
Tarissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 263 people with the first name Tarissa, which placed it at #32,158 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#32,158
National first-name rank
People counted
263
263 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tarissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tarissa is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.9%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tarissa described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tarissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.6% · 162
- Black or African American20.9% · 55
- Two or more races7.6% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.8% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 4
Popularity
Tarissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tarissa from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 102 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Tarissa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tarissa by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Tarissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tarissa
The name Tarissa is believed to have its roots in Ancient Greek, originating from the word "tarsós," which means "flat basket." This name likely emerged during the Classical Greek period, around the 5th century BCE, and was primarily used in regions where Greek culture flourished, such as the Greek mainland, the Aegean islands, and parts of modern-day Turkey and Egypt.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Tarissa can be found in the works of the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, who lived from circa 446 BCE to 386 BCE. In his comedic play "The Birds," he makes a reference to a character named Tarissa, although the context and significance of this character are unclear.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tarissa. One of the earliest was Tarissa of Crete, a philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 3rd century BCE. She is credited with making significant contributions to the field of geometry and is believed to have been a student of the renowned mathematician Euclid.
In the 2nd century CE, there was a Roman woman named Tarissa Paulina who gained fame for her philanthropic efforts. She is mentioned in several historical records as having donated substantial sums of money to support the construction of public buildings and infrastructure projects in various cities throughout the Roman Empire.
During the Byzantine era, a notable figure named Tarissa Comnena lived in the 12th century. She was a member of the influential Comnenus dynasty and is known for her literary works, including a collection of poems and a historical account of the reign of her father, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals named Tarissa was Tarissa Arrighetti, an Italian opera singer who lived from 1886 to 1952. She gained international acclaim for her powerful soprano voice and performed in some of the most prestigious opera houses across Europe and North America.
While the name Tarissa may have evolved and taken on different variations over time, its Greek origins and historical significance have endured. From ancient philosophers and mathematicians to Roman philanthropists and Byzantine writers, the name has been borne by notable figures throughout various eras and cultures.
People
Tarissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tarissa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tarissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tarissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 237 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tarissa going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,446,221 US residents.
Is Tarissa a common name?
We classify Tarissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 247 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tarissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Tarissa was 1992, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tarissa is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tarissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 263 people with the name Tarissa, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,158 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tarissa in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tarissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tarissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 257 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tarissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tarissa is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.9%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tarissa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tarissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.6% (162 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tarissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tarissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tarissa in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Tarissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tarissa in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tarissa can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Tarissa as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Tarissa, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.